Kingdom of Cyprus

The Kingdom of Cyprus was a crusader state that existed on the island of Cyprus from 1192 to 1489. Its foundation dated back to 1191, when King Richard the Lionheart conquered the island from its Greek ruler Doux Isaakios of Cyprus and sold the island to the Templar Order. The Templars had only 14-20 men on the island due to the need for their troops during the Third Crusade, leading to an 1192 uprising by local Greeks. Desperate, the Templars asked Richard for help, and Richard decided to give the island to Guy de Lusignan. The House of Lusignan ruled the island for nearly 300 years, claiming the titles of King of Jerusalem after 1291 and King of Armenia after 1393. During the 14th century, the kingdom began to fall under the rule of Italian merchants from the Republic of Genoa, and in 1372 the Genoese were invited to invade the island by Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Cyprus to avenge the murder of her husband Peter I of Cyprus. The French rulers of Genoa governed Cyprus until 1409, but in 1426 the Mamluks of Egypt forced King Janus of Cyprus to become a vassal of theirs. The remaining monarchs remained vassals of other empires until 1489, when Queen Catherine Cornaro sold the island to the Republic of Venice.